Advice

errr what sort of army would be good for someone completely new to warhammer fb which contains cool looking models which are fairly easy to paint and not too expensive
which are not wood elves, ogre kingdoms, orcs and goblins or tomb king?

I'm sure you were expecting a more direct answer, but I think you should read some of the articles at the GW site or pop into your local GW shop and read and take a look at the army books to get a feel of what background you like the best, what models you think look the best and then make your decision.

Whatever army you choose, you'll soon get the hang of it. Skaven I think get a new army book soon and Lizardmen was just revisited so I'd take a look at both of them, though Skaven may be a bit expensive.